Mussolini’s granddaughter runs for Italy Parliament

Rome: A granddaughter of Benito Mussolini is running for Italy`s Parliament and defending the late fascist leader much like Silvio Berlusconi recently did.

Edda Negri Mussolini said in comments in Corriere della Sera today she is running on a ticket headed by Gianfranco Fini, a former neofascist ally of Berlusconi who is now a moderate backing Premier Mario Monti in February elections.

Negri Mussolini says she is proud of her grandfather for his doing "many good things," including cleaning up malaria-plagued swamps near Rome.

But she denounced as "monstrous errors" her grandfather`s anti-Jewish laws, dictatorship and violence.

Berlusconi on Sunday provoked outrage when, attending a Holocaust commemoration, he said Benito Mussolini did much good despite the crackdown on Italy`s Jews.

Another granddaughter of the dictator, Alessandra Mussolini, already serves in Parliament.